A Slim Chance of Survival, Xian'a Mountain

Over a thousand Grand Unity Golden Immortals constituted the greatest trend. Even the Wu Clan had no way to resist it—unless Great God Pangu suddenly rose from the dead.

That was why, in the Primordial True Realm, minor trends could be changed, while major trends could not!

What was a major trend?

What was a minor trend?

Anything involving Grand Unity Golden Immortals was a major trend. Anything below that, so long as it did not affect a Grand Unity Golden Immortal's attainment of the Dao, was a minor trend that could be altered!

"This really is a hell-level dungeon!"

The thought that even the slightest interference with karma could bring a future Grand Unity Golden Immortal descending from the River of Time and Space made Xuan Yin feel as though his future was utterly bleak.

This Primordial True Realm was simply far too unfriendly to anomalies like him!

Stealing opportunities, tampering with major trends, killing beings who would have the opportunity to attain the Dao as Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the future—all of it could draw Grand Unity Golden Immortals from the future down into the present!

How was he supposed to deal with that?

Xuan Yin sighed softly to himself. "The wisest thing I've done since transmigrating here was become a Sage's disciple!"

With a Sage's protection, he would not suddenly be slain by some Grand Unity Golden Immortal from the future.

Still, the future was not completely fixed. So long as one possessed sufficient strength or backing, there was no harm in stealing a Grand Unity Golden Immortal's opportunity.

Even if one descended from the future, could they withstand an Immortal Slaying Sword falling from beyond the heavens?

That was the confidence being a Sage's disciple gave him!

Of course, this sort of interception could not involve other Sages or their disciples. He could only steal opportunities from Rogue Cultivators without any backing!

"Besides Sage lineages, it's best not to provoke races such as the Dragon Race, Phoenix Race, Human Race, and Asura Clan either... races with at least dozens of Grand Unity Golden Immortals holding the fort. Otherwise, I might get beaten to death by a crowd!"

Thought after thought flashed through Xuan Yin's mind before he turned to Yan Lin and asked, "Is the Great Trend of the Heavenly Dao truly impossible to change?"

"Not necessarily!"

Yan Lin shook his head. "I once heard Sage Tongtian say that the so-called Great Trend of the Heavenly Dao is the collective decision of the Grand Unity Golden Immortals within the River of Time and Space. It is like a vote: some support it, some oppose it, while some Grand Unity Golden Immortals, unwilling to offend either side, choose to abstain!"

"If you can persuade more than half of the Grand Unity Golden Immortals to switch sides and support you, then the so-called major trend can naturally be changed!"

"Unfortunately, whether it is the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races or the Witch and Demon Races, they involve far too much karma and far too many Grand Unity Golden Immortals. Under such circumstances, change is exceedingly difficult!"

As he spoke, a trace of desolation flickered through Yan Lin's eyes. If he could, how could he not wish to change the current state of the Kirin Clan?

Yet it was precisely because the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races had fallen that the Witch and Demon Races rose, and that so many Grand Unity Golden Immortals gained the foundation to rise within this world!

They would never agree to it!

The several great tribulations that had erupted within the Primordial True Realm ultimately came down to nothing more than profit, and the karmic law of heaven and earth that prosperity must decline!

Great Dao struggles, struggles for providence, struggles for spiritual treasures, struggles for opportunities... every one of these conflicts was, in truth, a redistribution of benefits!

"Alas!"

Xuan Yin could not help sighing as well. Most of the Primordial True Realm's benefits and authorities had already been divided up. He did not even have the chance to steal opportunities.

Even the god positions in the Heavenly Court had likely been decided long ago. The so-called Investiture of the Gods tribulation was an earth-shaking struggle between the Three Sects of the Mystic Gate, where the victors became immortals and the losers were invested as gods.

"The karma of the Fierce Beasts, the Dragon-Han era, and the Witch-Demon era has long been settled. Does the outcome of the Investiture of the Gods tribulation still have even the slightest chance of being changed?"

Watching the Twelve Ancestral Witches retreat before the major trend, then listening to Yan Lin's explanation, Xuan Yin could not help feeling sympathy for those in the same plight.

After all...

After the Witch and Demon Races came the rise of the Human Race, then the Investiture of the Gods, then the tribulation that belonged to the Jie Sect!

"No!"

"There is still a chance!"

In an instant, the hesitation on Xuan Yin's face was replaced by resolve. "If, through one minor trend after another, I can change the attitudes of many Grand Unity Golden Immortals toward the Jie Sect, perhaps I can turn the tide and make Heaven's Will favor the Jie Sect!"

"At the very least, it would preserve more of the Jie Sect's strength during the great tribulation!"

According to what had been passed down in later generations, after the Investiture of the Gods, apart from those who had been invested as gods, only a handful of Jie Sect disciples led by Saint Mother Wu Dang remained.

And that was only because the Sages had shown mercy!

Otherwise, once Heaven's Will overturned, not a single Jie Sect disciple would likely have survived!

"A slim chance of survival!"

At that moment, Xuan Yin thought of what Patriarch Bodhi had told him in the Journey to the West World. No matter which of the Chan and Jie Sects won or lost in the future great tribulation, they had to leave the other a legacy of incense and lineage.

That was the Will of the Grand Pure Sage!

Since the Sages could retain memories of the previous era through cycle after cycle of Samsara, it meant that the Grand Pure Sage had foreseen everything long ago.

His choice to support the Exposition Sect was merely because he believed it could bring him greater benefits.

After the Investiture of the Gods, the Jie Sect's lineage declined. The Human Sect and Exposition Sect gained greater influence in the East, and through Transforming Barbarians into Barbarians, they even took a portion of the Western Teachings' providence and forged the Houtian Supreme Treasure, the Vajra Ring.

Meanwhile, after bringing away the Three Thousand Worldly Travelers, the Western Teachings' foundation greatly increased. They gained three thousand cultivators to help the Two Sages repay their debts.

Under Primordial Heavenly Venerate, several traitors such as Cihang appeared—but perhaps... they were not sand that the Sage of the Exposition Sect had deliberately mixed into the Western Teachings?

Since Daoist Randeng could enter the Exposition Sect and use Primordial Heavenly Venerate's nature as the Cause of All Fruits and the Most Ancient Source to perfect his Buddha of the Past Dao Fruit, perhaps Cihang and the others could likewise use the Buddhist Sect's fruition positions to perfect their own Dao Fruits, bringing their Great Dao closer to Yuanshi and returning to its origin!

Otherwise, with a Sage's methods, would cleansing the sect not be effortless?

The only thing that puzzled Xuan Yin was Chang'er Dingguang Immortal. Since his Teacher knew the future, why had he accepted him as one of the Seven Attendant Immortals?

Did it carry some deeper meaning?

Or was it an understanding with the other Sages?

Xuan Yin had no way of knowing.

After joining the Jie Sect, he had seen Chang'er Dingguang Immortal several times. Judging by appearances alone, he truly could not tell that the other man had the makings of a traitor!

In fact, the reason the Seven Attendant Immortals could remain by the Sage's side was because their talents gave them the potential to break through into the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm in the future, yet their temperaments had grave flaws.

Only by remaining beside a Sage and receiving the constant cleansing of the Saint's Great Dao day and night could they have a slim chance of remedying those flaws and breaking through into the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Xuan Yin had far too many doubts. He had already decided that once this trial ended, he would seek Sect Master Tongtian's guidance properly!

"One who has no far-reaching worries is sure to have immediate troubles. Knowing too much isn't necessarily a good thing!"

Xuan Yin sighed softly, withdrew his escape light, and descended onto Xian'a Mountain. This immortal mountain was the place Wangshu's imprint had guided him toward.

And the Wangshu Immortal Sword mentioned by the imprint was hidden within a concealed grotto-heaven on Xian'a Mountain.

"This is..."

With Xuan Shuang and Yan Lin's help, Xuan Yin effortlessly found the Wangshu Immortal Sword that Wangshu True Body had accidentally lost on Xian'a Mountain.

Yet when he sensed the aura upon the immortal sword, Xuan Yin could not help frowning.

Because upon the Wangshu Immortal Sword, he once again saw a Wangshu phantom.

This phantom differed from Wangshu's Grudge. It actually contained a strand of the Power of Moon Authority, as well as some characteristics of a Taiyi Dao Fruit.

Yan Lin frowned as well. "Those are not Taiyi characteristics. It is A Divine Soul of Wangshu! The flaw of the Archaic Divine Path is that its cultivators are easily assimilated by the corresponding Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Yet after the Archaic Three Sovereigns underwent Dao Integration, a Divine Path Cultivator named Di Hong proposed a method for resolving that assimilation!"

"That was to condense another divine soul from authority beyond the Three Souls and Seven Spirits, allowing that divine soul to bear the force of assimilation in place of the true body!"

Among the beings born within the Primordial True Realm, all except the Wu Clan and Zombie Race possessed Three Souls and Seven Spirits. Innate Divine Beings were no exception. Their Heaven and Earth Souls usually remained outside, while only the Life Soul dwelled within the body. As for the divine soul, it was like a Dao body, a product unique to Divine Path Cultivators!

Wangshu's Divine Soul had been fused into the Wangshu Immortal Sword by her true body.

For a moment, Xuan Yin looked at the immortal sword before him and the Moon Goddess phantom reflected upon it, unable to decide whether to take it or simply leave.